The SPLM in Opposition has laid new conditions to be fulfilled before Dr Riek Machar returns to Juba to take up his position as the First Vice President.

Dr Machar is expected in Juba next Monday. However, his spokesman says Machar will not come to Juba as scheduled unless the JMEC confirms that Juba is demilitarized.

James Gatdet says the government should also agree to let Dr Machar take oath of office on the same day of his arrival.

According to the security arrangements under the peace agreement, only 3,420 government troops should remain in Juba during the transitional period while the rest have to be deployed 25 kilometers outside Juba.

The opposition says this redeployment must first be confirmed by JMEC before Dr Riek arrives in Juba.

“If it is not done, then he is not coming on the 18^th, because this is a requirement we have scheduled,” Mr James Gatdet said.

According to a schedule released by the government, Dr Machar will be sworn in a day after arrival. The opposition wants him to take oath immediately and address a public rally.

For his part, the Minister of information, Michael Makuei Lueth, says government troops have already been deployed 25 Kilometers outside Juba.

The SPLA has invited the ceasefire and transitional security monitors to verify next Tuesday the number of troops that have remained at designated sites in Juba.

On the schedule, Mr Makuei said the Opposition has no mandate to set any schedule for government programs.

He told Eye Radio that the reception of Dr Riek will remain a public event.

“Instead of squeezing it in one day, we have made it to be two days,” Mr Makuei stated.

“And for your information, IO is not an entity to organize any government function.”

The JMEC could not be reached for a comment immediately.

But in a previous schedule, the commission scheduled the coming of Dr Machar and the inauguration of the transitional government and appointment of ministers, on different dates.

The SPLM in Opposition said the return date was not workable and the government came up with its own program for the reception of Dr Machar.

Dr Machar is required in Juba to work with President Salva Kiir to set up a transitional government of national unity.